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03.10.2016

This piece has been written following the development of a new Evidence Baseline Report for Louth Children and Young Person's Services Committee. As part of the development process for this project we have documented all of the relevant data sources and are sharing this information with interested parties.

Background

The Children and Young People’s Services Committees are an initiative of the Dept. of Children & Youth Affairs which involves the development of a local county based committee bringing together agencies working with children and young people, to engage in joint planning and coordinated delivery of services for children.

In working together, the focus of the CYPSC is to ensure that statutory, community & voluntary agencies secure better developmental outcomes for children and young people through more effective integration of existing services and interventions at local level.

There are 5 national Outcomes for Children outlined in the Better Outcomes, Brighter Futures National Policy Framework 2014-2020:

Active and Healthy

Achieving in all areas of learning and development

Safe and Protected from Harm

Economic Security & Opportunity

Connected, Respected and Contributing

The overriding objective of the evidence baseline report is to support the ongoing development of quality services. It will be of value to those who plan and provide children’s services, and to professionals who have responsibility for the wellbeing and development of children and young people.

The report is made up of five key sections: Demography, Economy, Education, Health and Security. Each section provides detail on the status of Louth in a national and regional context

The development of an evidence baseline report includes the following steps: 1) Data Collection; 2) Metric Calculations; 3) Conceptualisation of Visual Outputs; 4) Production of Outputs; 5) Final Compilation of Indicators and Commentary.

Based on the development of the report clear targets can be identified and an additional phase of monitoring and review will measure the progress of objectives and actions from the CYPSC.

To download a sample copy of the report please click here or to find out more information on the report please contact a member of the research team (airo@nuim.ie). Otherwise please see below for comprehensive list of the datasets used for the report.

Key Datasets for the Evidence Baseline Report

Prior to the establishment of an evidence baseline report and beginning the data collection phase it is worth noting that a baseline should be developed that will provide detail on a number of different spatial scales. This will enable analysis at the local level (either Small Area or Electoral Division), at the Municipal District level (for consultation with members) and at the local authority level and enable context with neighbouring counties, regions (either NUTS III, II or new Regional Assembly) and the State (see the example below).

The following sections will provide details on an inventory of datasets and sources that can be used in the development of an evidence baseline report. The development of this evidence based report has been based on open access to a wide variety of statistical datasets from a number of key agencies across Ireland. The following data sources and datasets were used in developing this report:

1. Demography

This section explores the demographic population profile of Louth, highlighting its dynamic nature and outlining some of its key characteristics. The following Census based indicators are used to provide an in depth population profile of the county: Population Change 2006 to 2011, Birth Rate and Average Age of First Time Mothers, Mothers aged 10-17, Age Cohorts, the Young Dependency Rate and Ethnicity.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) provided the vast amount of data within this report. The main datasets that were sourced from the CSO were as follows:

The Economy section of this report explores the economic profile of Louth. This section includes Census and non-Census indicators that directly or indirectly relate to children and young people. These indicators highlight patterns within Labour Force and Youth Unemployment, Child Related Social Welfare Payments, Lone Parents, the Pobal HP Deprivation Index, Children at Risk of Poverty, Medical Card Holders and Social Housing.

DSP provide very detailed statistics on levels of child related payments at the local authority level in Ireland. Section F from the web-link below provides information on One Parent Family Payments, Back to School Clothing & Footwear, Child Benefit and Family Income Support Payment.

The Pobal HP Deprivation index uses indicators available from the Census to measure the relative affluence or disadvantage of an area. Other data used from Pobal for this report includes the location of all childcare facilities in Louth.

The Education section aims to explore the education profile of Louth. It focuses on aspects of educational achievement at primary, secondary and third level education. By using a series of Census and non-Census indicators a spatial profile of education attainment in presented across the county. Indicators include: Population and Parental Education Attainment, DEIS Primary and Post-Primary Schools, School Absenteeism, Leaving Certificate, Third Level Progression Rates and Third Level Enrolment.

Department of Education and Skills

Details on DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) schools at Primary and Post-Primary level was made available by the Department of Education and Skills.

This section explores data relating to the health status of children and young people in Louth. This data includes Census and non-Census indicators from a range of sources including the Census, National Physical & Sensory Disability Database (NPSD), National Intellectual Disability Database (NIDD), National Perinatal Reporting System (NPRS), Healthcare Protection Surveillance System (HPSS), Hospital In-Patient Enquiry System (HIPE), National Suicide and Research Foundation (NSRF) and the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS).

National Physical and Sensory Disability Database (NPSDD)

The National Physical and Sensory Disability Database is a voluntary register of children in Ireland whom are registered as having a physical or sensory disability. Data is available by request from the Health Research Board.

The National Intellectual Disability Database is a voluntary register of children in Ireland whom are registered as having a physical or sensory disability. Data is available by request from the Health Research Board.

The National Perinatal Reporting System (NPRS) the primary reporting system on perinatal events. Data obtained from this system includes: low birth weight, antenatal care attendance and breastfeeding rates. This data is available on request from the Healthcare Pricing Office (HPE).

The Hospital In-Patient Enquiry System (HIPE) collates and publishes data on details regarding hospital discharges on an annual basis. This data is available at HSE Region and National level from the HIPE Statistics Reporter. Data on total discharges and causes at county level was made available by request from the Healthcare Pricing Office (HPO).

The National Psychiatric In-Patient Reporting System (NPIPRS) is the only national psychiatric inpatient database in Ireland. Data made available for this report was requested from the Health Research Board (HRB).

The National Suicide Research Foundation (NSRF) is a research unit that investigates the causes of suicide and deliberate self-harm in Ireland. Data obtained for the purpose of this report includes the number of persons presenting to hospital with a diagnosis of self-harm at hospital level and HSE Region.

The National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) is an epidemiological database on treated drug and alcohol misuse in Ireland. Data made available for this report includes the number of persons seeking treatment for substance misuse.

The Security section of this report identifies datasets and indicators from a range of sources that provide a general view on the safety of children and young people in Louth. Sources of data include An Garda Síocháina and Túsla.

An Garda Síochaina

Data was provided by the Garda Youth Diversion Office on the number of referrals to the Garda Youth Diversion Programme. This data contains the number of referrals to the programme.

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